New Orleans native competes in All-Star Wheelchair Classic for fifth consecutive year

I never felt like anything was wrong with me, I never let anything stop me." -- Joseph Henry

All-Star basketball player and New Orleans native Joseph Henry is celebrating two things in February: a spot on the National Wheelchair Basketball Association All-Star roster for the fifth consecutive year, and his 32nd anniversary of being in a wheelchair. While some may think the latter is an odd thing to celebrate, Henry said that he is grateful for the path that has led him to become the All-Star player he is today.

It was late on Mardi Gras evening in 1982 when 12-year-old Henry was sent out for a bite to eat by his grandmother. Living in the Carrollton neighborhood, he hopped on his bike for what he thought would be a quick trip to a nearby fast food restaurant with his cousin. What Henry didn’t know was that a feud between his neighbor and a man on a bicycle had erupted earlier in the day. This feud led to a misguided retaliation of gunfire that left Henry permanently paralyzed from his waist down.

“I remember my neighbor kept apologizing over and over, when I came out of the hospital and years after, and maybe I was too young to understand, but I never held a grudge,” Henry said. “Then as I got older, I never felt like anything was wrong with me, I never let anything stop me.”

Not only does the 44-year-old All-Star refuse to let his partial-paralysis stand in his way, he has made a habit of finding the means to use his condition to his advantage. Before the incident, he never played sports in school and only on occasion would play a pick-up game with his friends. In the early 90s, however, several years after he graduated from Warren Easton High, he crossed paths with an old high school friend who told him about New Orleans’ NWBA team, the Rollin’ Rhinos.

“I remember thinking that I wanted to check it out, that I was excited to potentially find a group of people that I could relate to, and the minute I met them I knew it was something I had to be a part of,” Henry said. “It’s one of those things where you might be feeling down about your situation, or you’re having a hard time, and if you can get around someone else who has experienced what you have – you can finally open up, you can feel more comfortable.”

Knowing that he had found a community to call his own, Henry quickly joined the Division 3 basketball team, which has since updated its name to the Rollin’ Pelicans. It did not take him long to familiarize himself with the game, grow his strengths and overcome the obstacles that have come with playing the sport.

“When you’re a real active person like I am, and get along so long the way I have been, you find ways to get around anything that comes your way. If there is a tall curb, for example, I just hop up on it, I don’t go the long way around and up a ramp,” Henry said. “From constantly running across those kinds of obstacles you learn to always find a way to tackle it.”

Now, after 20 years in the NWBA, he is team captain and one of the most celebrated players in the game, as well as one of the most feared by opponents. Rollin’ Pelicans Head Coach Dale VanCourt, who served as the head coach for the NWBA East All-Stars, said that Henry is a great representation of the New Orleans team.

“Joe’s got lots of speed and all the moves, including a cross-over dribble that defends all the other players off the ball on the court,” VanCourt said. “He has a really positive attitude too, and is an overall great athlete.”

On Thursday (Feb. 13), Henry competed in his fifth NWBA All-Star Wheelchair Classic and represented the Rollin’ Pelicans against some of the best players in the country, most of whom he considers his close friends.

After the game, all of the All-Star players came together to work with potential wheelchair basketball players of all ages during the NWBA All-Star Clinic.

“It puts a smile on my face to think that I can make an impact on someone else that might be down, who might not know that this experience is out there for them,” Henry said. “It’s the kind of experience that makes me excited to be myself.”